Chapter 520: City of Lamentation (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 520: City of Lamentation (1)
The commotion spread like wildfire.
Acrid smoke seeped deep into my nostrils. The strong smell of gunpowder mixed in suggested an attack with firearms.
“Heh, I didn’t see this coming at all.”
Had I let my guard down?
I couldn’t deny it.
To be honest, I think it was inevitable.
I mean, what kind of ballsy bastard would think of attacking a volunteer group run by the Vatican Orthodox Church?
Even villains filled with hatred for the world know never to mess with the Vatican Orthodox Church, and especially not its volunteer groups.
Why, you ask?
It’s because while no organization would stand by and let its own people be harmed, the volunteer groups—who travel the world bestowing God’s grace—are considered the most sacred group within the Orthodox Church.
Let me give you an example… Right.
Was it about six years ago? A volunteer group in Africa was kidnapped by a local band of thieves.
The thieves demanded an absurd ransom, and surprisingly, the Orthodox Church paid it.
After getting their hands on the massive sum, the thieves released the volunteers without a fuss.
Though they had done something crazy, blinded by greed, it was their way of signaling that they didn't want to become complete enemies.
It took exactly one month.
One month for every single member of that band of thieves, from the leader down to the lowest grunt, to be captured.
In other words, it took them just one month to scour the entire, vast continent of Africa.
Afterward, the Saintess made a public appearance and issued a warning: there would be no mercy for anyone who harmed the Orthodox Church’s volunteer groups.
This established a very clear deterrent.
You know how it is.
When a normally gentle person gets angry, they become twice, three times as terrifying.
The Saintess is exactly that kind of person.
Anyway, given the circumstances, it was only natural to let my guard down a bit.
As proof, I wasn't the only one who was caught off guard.
“Zzz… Gak! Wh-what the hell! What kind of madman is ambushing an Orthodox Church volunteer group?!”
If even the man called humanity's greatest hero was caught off guard, doesn't that say it all?
Awakened by the sudden commotion, he asked the driver.
“Driver, ask the lead bus if they need our help.”
“Huh? Ah, yes, sir!”
The driver used the communication device in his console to get an update from the lead bus. After finishing the call, he reported back.
“Th-they say it seems to be an attack by a band of thieves. There are a lot of them, and they said things would be resolved faster if a few people could help…”
“Is that so? In that case…”
Francis’s gaze swept over the people on the bus, a look of contemplation on his face as he decided who to send.
To ease his burden, I immediately raised my hand.
“I'll go.”
His worried expression immediately brightened.
“Oh, my friend Do-jin! I know I can trust you with this. Are you taking anyone with you?”
“I'll be fine alone.”
“Kuh, such confidence!”
Francis gave me a thumbs-up in admiration.
It wasn't out of confidence, though.
I was just sure it wouldn't escalate into a major fight.
“Well, I'll be back. The rest of you can relax.”
“P-please be careful.”
With the driver's parting words of caution, he opened the door for me. I stepped off the bus and began walking slowly toward the head of the convoy.
My senses gradually sharpened.
A considerable number of people surrounded the lead bus, which was stopped on a damaged road.
The mana I sensed from each and every one of them lent credence to my hypothesis.
“So they weren't just being reckless.”
I finally reached the lead bus.
In front of the vehicle, from which acrid smoke billowed, stood a man in a pure white robe.
His name was Michael.
The leader of this volunteer group.
Standing some distance away from him were dozens of men in masks, armed with heavy weaponry.
They were clearly the perpetrators of this attack.
He raised his voice.
“Stand aside at once! Any further hostility will be considered an attack on the Orthodox Church!”
An attack on the Orthodox Church.
Those words carried significant weight.
To become an enemy of a globally influential religion was to forfeit any chance of living an honest life in the light of day.
But the men paid no heed.
“We don't care. There's only one way to make us back down. Hand over all the supplies on the bus.”
Just as I thought.
They were thieves.
After the supplies packed onto the bus.
At the demand to hand over all the supplies, Michael flared up.
“We cannot do that! These supplies are for the starving people of Romania. We will not give a single handful to thieves like you!”
His stance made it clear he would die before giving up the supplies.
The man who appeared to be the thieves' leader slowly raised his hand.
“Then we have no choice. We gave you a chance to live. So try not to hold too much of a grudge after you're dead.”
“Kugh…!”
The moment his hand dropped, gunfire would erupt.
The weapons of those hidden on all sides, not just in front, would have laid waste to the entire area.
It was at that very moment.
“Wait.”
I was the one who stepped between them as they ran along parallel lines, each refusing to budge.
The man who was about to give the signal narrowed his eyes and asked.
“…Who are you?”
I was currently wearing the same robe and hood as the other volunteers.
I made the sign of the cross and offered a greeting.
“My name is Jin. I am a member of the Orthodox Church's volunteer group.”
The man scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.
“Hmph, get lost. This is no place for a mere grunt like you to interfere.”
Look at this bastard.
Suppressing a flicker of irritation, I turned to Michael with a small request.
“Leader.”
“Speak, Brother.”
“Would you entrust the handling of this matter entirely to me?”
“…To you, Brother?”
“Yes. I will see to it that we get through this without any harm through proper negotiation.”
“Hmm…!”
Michael hesitated for a moment.
Soon, having reached a decision, he nodded with a grave expression.
“Very well. I will follow your lead, Brother.”
“Thank you, Leader.”
After our conversation, I turned back to the thief leader.
“Now, I believe I am qualified enough to speak with you.”
His expression soured slightly.
His irritable voice cut through the air.
“Hmph… Nothing changes. Hand over all the supplies, or die. Choose.”
A hardline stance.
But I could see it.
He was just trying to act tough; his body was coiled tight with extreme tension.
Maintaining a relaxed demeanor, I fought fire with fire.
“In my home country, the Republic of Korea, we have a saying: Excessive greed brings misfortune.”
“……”
“Instead of one side pushing its demands, why don't we each take a step back and try to consider the other's position?”
It was both an olive branch and a warning.
A message that if he didn't compromise, we wouldn't stand by idly.
At the same time, I activated the Domain of the Ruler, constricting the mana around him to apply pressure.
Adding that pressure to his already tense body must have felt like hell.
“…Huuu, fine. Let's negotiate.”
He let out a deep breath, finally willing to talk.
“Give us half the supplies. Then we'll leave quietly.”
“……”
Still a damn robber.
“Fifty percent is too much. Let's make it twenty.”
“…Hey, I already cut our demand in half.”
I held up two fingers at the man, who was clearly holding back his irritation, and stuck to my offer.
“Twenty percent.”
“…Forty. That's my final offer.”
“Twenty percent.”
“Kuuuh… Thirty percent! Any less and it's war…!”
“Twenty percent.”
I repeated firmly, tightening the pressure around him once more.
A little more intensely this time.
“Kugh…!”
Unable to bear it any longer, he cried out, his voice filled with indignation.
“Fine, alright! We'll take twenty percent! Now hand over the supplies!”
“Haha, excellent.”
Okay, thank you!
I immediately turned and met Michael's dismayed gaze.
“Leader, please open the cargo bay.”
Only then did he seem to snap back to his senses.
“W-wait, Brother. What is this? You're giving them twenty percent of our supplies? To thieves like them…?!”
As he stood on the verge of outrage, I spoke in a low voice.
“Leader. Do you see them as nothing more than thieves?”
“What else would you call people armed with weapons trying to steal from others?!”
“To me, they look like poor lambs in need of God's mercy.”
“What are you talking about…?!”
“Look closely at their appearance.”
The firearms, rusted in places despite their attempts at maintenance.
The tattered clothes on the men standing at the back of the formation.
Their emaciated bodies, hidden beneath layers of rags, and behind their masks, the sunken cheeks and protruding cheekbones.
Seeing this, Michael's face filled with horror.
“Don't tell me… they're…”
“Now you see. That's right. These are people who took up arms to avoid starving to death.”
And it likely wasn't just for themselves.
“They're pitiful souls who have risked death for the sake of their families and friends.”
That's why.
That's why they didn't back down, even after hearing we were from the Orthodox Church's volunteer group.
They have nowhere left to run.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
They must figure that if they're going to die anyway, they might as well die with a full stomach.
Overcome with shock, he stammered out an excuse.
“B-but they still took up arms and committed a crime! The fact that they're thieves doesn't change—!”
“I know. But one has to wonder how desperate they must have been to take up arms.”
“W-well…”
“Giving them these supplies is no different from the relief work we came here to do, Leader.”
My last words sent Michael into deep thought.
After careful consideration, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Well, I'll be damned… You're a better man than I am, Brother, and I'm the leader.”
Finally relenting, he gestured for the driver to open the cargo bay.
“Please wait a moment. I'll get some members to carry the supplies.”
“Ah, that won't be necessary.”
“It… won't?”
As long as the cargo bay is open, that's all I need.
Carrying it is the easy part.
“I can handle it myself.”
I reached a hand toward the open cargo bay.
A portion of the neatly stacked supplies floated out and piled up in front of me.
“N-no, how can this be…”
“……!”
Michael and the thief leader stared, stunned by the incredible sight.
This wasn't just for show.
It was a sharp, subtle warning.
A warning that if they had chosen to fight us to the end, none of them would have left this place alive.
After piling the supplies in the space between us, I spoke to the dazed thief leader.
“Have your comrades hiding in the area pull back before you take the supplies.”
“…Fine.”
The man muttered something into an old walkie-talkie.
Soon, the presences that had filled the area began to vanish one by one.
Only the group directly in front of us remained.
At their leader's gesture, the shabbily dressed thieves behind him began to move the supplies, trying in vain to hide their elated expressions.
Their minds were probably filled with a single thought: We're going to live.
After they loaded everything onto an old truck.
“We're pulling out.”
They sped off into the distance.
Afterward, Michael showered me with praise.
“I have learned a great deal from you, Brother. It seems I still have a long way to go.”
“Oh, not at all. There was nothing to learn.”
Hardly.
Everyone might think I showed them kindness, but that wasn't it.
I merely cast the bait.
Now, all I had to do was wait.
“We've been delayed. Let's get moving again.”
“Yes.”
Wait until the bait I cast was lodged deep in their gills.
After that, we crossed the border into Romania without further incident.
Arriving in the city of lamentation—a place filled with people slowly withering away to their deaths.